Drinking Buddies
by laurasmileygirl
Summary: After the events of 4x12, Regina and Emma aren't the only new drinking buddies in Storybrooke... (The first three chapters are K , but the last one is T just to be safe.)
1. Chapter 1 - Belle and Killian

The ringing of the bell was so quiet that Belle almost missed it.

She had been sobbing uncontrollably in one of the back rooms of his shop, hugging her chipped teacup and the dagger. She'd wanted to be alone, but now she was regretting her choice of location. Yes, it had been her home, but it had been her home with _him_. The entire shop was stuffed from the bottom to the top with his belongings: magical items, personal items, stolen items, random things that Belle could research for years and never understand what they were. However, the one thing that she did know was what made the shop most unbearable; every item in this shop was something that he would choose over her.

The bell reverberated faintly throughout the shop and Belle paused mid-sob, a feeling of dread sinking through her stomach. She prayed it wasn't Mary Margaret again. She knew that the woman meant well, but at the moment there was only so much smothering comfort that Belle could take. Alternatively, it could be someone here to see if he really was gone. It was hardly surprising that people would want to check, really.

Hesitantly, Belle stood and peaked out through the gap in the curtain into the main area of the store. Standing there was the last person that she expected to see, bright blue eyes scanning the shop as though looking for something.

"What are you doing here?" She said sharply, stepping out from her hiding place to confront the unwelcome former pirate captain.

Hook studied her impassively for a moment, his handsome features unreadable.

"If you've come to gloat-" Belle began angrily, blinking back fresh tears.

"Regardless of what you may think, I'm not that much of a monster," Hook replied simply. "Why don't you sit down?" He added, as an afterthought, gesturing with his hook to the bed that Belle had woken up in that morning.

When Belle hesitated, Hook sighed and moved towards her, gently extracting the cup and dagger from her grip. Belle opened her mouth to yell at him, ready to fight before she let him take the dagger that easily, but, to her surprise, he simply dropped it on the counter and guided her over to her cot.

"What do you want?" Belle asked again, resigned now.

Hook sat down next to her, suddenly fiddling with his namesake as though reluctant to meet her eyes.

"I wanted to thank you, first of all, for saving my life. I owe you a great debt," he told her quietly.

"I didn't do it for you," Belle blurted out before she could stop herself. "I did it because what he was doing was wrong."

Hook half-grimaced. "Aye. I know, but I appreciate it all the same."

Belle glanced at him sideways, but couldn't detect anything mocking on his face. If anything he looked a bit sad and bitter, consumed with a certain self-loathing that Belle recognized from her own dealings with Anna. Letting Anna fall had haunted her for her entire life, and then the whole incident with Ingrid's mirror had only made things worse. Belle shuddered at the memory, suddenly feeling herself slip into another scene in this shop, one in which she had begged her husband for forgiveness and told him that she didn't deserve him...

A tear slipped down Belle's cheek, and she wiped it away quickly. She glanced over at Hook to see if he had noticed, and suddenly found herself face to face with a flask.

"Rum, love?" Hook offered.

"Rum?!" Belle exclaimed in disgust.

Hook shrugged, his face twisting into a half smile. "Sometimes the best medicine for times like these is to drink them away."

Belle meant to refuse, but before she knew what she was doing, she had gathered two clean - if slightly dusty - cups and was holding them out to her unexpected guest.

"We might as well do this properly," she commented.

Hook grinned and filled up the cups to much higher than may have been socially acceptable, before holding his cup out to hers. "Cheers."

The glasses clinked and Belle took a sip of her drink, grimacing slightly. If Hook noticed, he didn't comment.

"I still don't understand why you're here," Belle said after a few minutes of silence, both pirate and princess focusing wholly on their drinks. "Surely it wasn't just for an apology or to make me drunk."

Hook turned to her, drinking the remnants of his glass in one large swallow before pouring himself some more.

"Emma went to check on Regina, who is perhaps the only person in this town who had a bad day that comes close to yours, and it seemed to me that someone should come see how you were faring as well," he told her matter-of-factly.

"And you decided you were the man for the job?" Belle asked incredulously.

Hook looked down at his glass again, running his thumb absently across its side.

"I know what it means to know loss, particularly the loss of a loved one. You forget that I spent well on 200 years mourning the loss of my love. So, yes, lass, I thought that I may be the man for the job. No one should be alone while they're grieving. The least I could do was provide you with a drink and some company. Besides, you did save my life after I tried to kill you twice in the past. If empathy isn't justifiable to you as a motivator, than take this as partially fulfilling my debt to you, milady." Hook raised his glass again in a toast to his companion, never taking his eyes off of hers. To her surprise, Belle read only sincerity in them.

"It's not the same thing, though," she replied finally, holding her drink with both hands in a gesture of almost childlike vulnerability. "Rumple was my true love. When we first kissed, in the Enchanted Forest, he began to transform back into a man. Only true love's kiss could break his curse. And I sent him away," Belle sobbed.

Hook looked at her sadly, before gently rubbing circles into her back with the curve of his hook.

"You had good reason to do so, love. Not because of his actions against myself or others, but solely for what he did to you. You deserve much more than lies, lass. And as for him being your true love... I used to imagine that a person only got one true love in his or her lifetime, but I don't anymore. I loved Milah with all of my heart, and now I feel the same about Emma. You know that what you had with the croc- with Rumplestiltskin was real, but a lovely lass like you is bound to find that again. You did what was best for you, lass, and that takes more courage than your husband ever had," the pirate captain replied earnestly.

"I never thought I'd hear a 'hope speech' coming from you," Belle commented, studying her companion as though she had never seen him before.

Hook raised an eyebrow. "I don't know if I'd call it that. Hope speeches are a little bit too good to be true. I'm just telling you what I observe and what little bit of wisdom I've gathered in my life. But I suppose it could be an overdose of the Charming family," he added with a crooked grin.

Belle took another sip of her rum, mulling over Hook's words.

"If I am bothering you, though, lass, just let me know and I'll be off," he added, sincerity filling his words.

"No, I actually don't think I'd mind a 'drinking buddy', as they say here," Belle said with a small smile.

Hook grinned back, mischief dancing in his eyes. "Well, perhaps we should move onto lighter subject matter. Rum is the best remedy for grief, but it may be tied with humour..."

Hook launched into an animated story about a prank he and his brother had played on their mother when she still was alive, and soon Belle was laughing for the first time since she'd discovered her husband's betrayal.

As he moved onto a new anecdote, eyebrows wiggling in his enthusiastic storytelling, Belle realized something. She had once told this man that his heart was rotten and her husband's was true. As much as she hated to admit it, perhaps the opposite had occurred. Maybe it had happened slowly, or maybe it had always been that way, but, somehow, underneath everything, Captain Hook was a good man.

And, more importantly, a hell of a drinking buddy.


	2. Chapter 2 - Snow and Grumpy

I meant for this to to be just a one chapter thing, but I kept getting more ideas so I decided to continue! Thanks to everyone who's read and reviewed this!

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><p>Snow White had always considered herself a capable person. She was a woman who could survive as an outlaw, rob passing coaches without difficulty, break into high security castles almost undetected, and kill an ogre with a single arrow. Even as Mary Margaret she had been capable enough to find her true love in the woods and escape crazy mad-hatters.<p>

Oddly enough, Snow was beginning to think longingly back to all of those situations. Nothing on earth could compare to the difficulty of being a mother while being mayor with a mad Snow Queen and a backstabbing Rumplestiltskin in the picture. Just in the past day or so, she'd had to give up her child _again_, survived a crazy curse, and, on top of it all, watched as Rumplestiltskin attempted to kill her daughter's boyfriend. Then, she'd had to try to comfort both Belle and Regina, who both didn't seem appreciative, before David convinced her to give up and come home. In short, Snow White wanted nothing more than to sleep for eternity. Even a poisoned apple was sounding promising at this second, so long as David waited at least twelve hours before waking her up. Scratch that, she needed a month of sleep to catch up after this.

"He's asleep," Snow breathed in relief, closing the door to Neal's room with something remarkably close to a whimper.

David smiled wearily, moving towards his wife to give her a soft kiss on the cheek, then the neck.

"Shall we-"

David's warm suggestion was punctuated suddenly by the loud trilling of birds, Snow's ringtone. Seconds later, Neal let out a loud wail that could likely be heard across the town line.

Snow let out a very unprincess-like exclamation before answering her phone with an angry, "Yes?"

"Mary Margaret? It's Leroy. There's an emergency at the Rabbit Hole and we need you to come here right away."

Snow blinked back tears. "Shouldn't you be calling the Sheriff about this?"

David gave her a look of dread.

"No, sister, this is mayor's business. Hurry!"

"Be right there," Snow said with a sigh.

David and Snow exchanged long-suffering glances as each moved to their own duties; David to their screaming son, Snow to the coatrack. The only good thing about this, Snow thought, was that she at least got out of baby duty.

She half-ran to the Rabbit Hole, suppressing her growing sense of dread. Surely there couldn't be a new problem already?

Snow threw open the door with a bang. The only trouble was that the Rabbit Hole was so loud that the dramatics of her entrance were lost. She scanned the room for Leroy and finally saw him over at the bar with the six other dwarves.

"Leroy, what is it? What's wrong?" Snow gasped.

To her surprise, all Leroy did was grin at her and hold out a shot of what looked like tequila.

Snow looked from Leroy to the tequila and back again, feeling as though she'd just gone from in the Rabbit Hole to down the rabbit hole.

"What?" Snow finally blurted.

"Shots, sister. On us! We've barely seen you since the prince was born, and we figured you could use a night out," Leroy explained.

"And we knew you wouldn't come unless there was an 'emergency'," piped in Happy cheerfully.

Snow closed her eyes and breathed deeply, holding back tears. One night at home. That was all she wanted. One night of peace.

"Snow? You okay?" Asked Sneezy between sneezes.

Snow forced herself to smile. "I'm just a bit overwhelmed. I'm so grateful that you did this for me."

The dwarves grinned from ear to ear. Snow took her shot in one huge swallow, causing her companions to cheer.

Snow soon lost track of the amount of shots she had taken, and, as was typical of Snow, complete honesty followed.

"I'm just so tired," Snow sobbed, leaning against Grumpy's shoulder. "It's all just a bit too much. David is so helpful, but there are just days when I can't take it anymore. And now I can't lose my baby weight and I feel so useless..."

Leroy, the most sober of the dwarves (Sleepy had passed out after about two shots) patted Snow's back gingerly.

"You're Snow White. You can do anything. We all know you can, right fellas?"

The other dwarves nodded.

"Aaaaabsolutely," slurred Doc, before slipping off of his stool.

"But I can't! And I d-don't even know how to be a good mother... my m-mother died before she could teach me. I can never m-measure up to her. All I do is lose my children!" Snow finished with a loud wail, before burying her head further into Grumpy's shoulder.

Leroy frantically gestured for more shots now that Snow wasn't looking.

"You know, ever since I killed Cora, I've felt different. I'm a m-monster, and I even yell at my friends. I'm s-sorry... I d-don't know what's happened. I j-just can't get rid of this d-darkness in my heart-"

"That's ridiculous," Leroy retorted.

Snow lifted her tearstained face off of her friend. "W-what?"

"You are the kindest person I've ever met. It's enough to almost make me sick sometimes. Darkness in your heart? What darkness? Sure, you've been a bit testy lately, but everyone gets that way sometimes. You're only human. You put people above yourself _always_, and sometimes that means making the tough choice. Killing Cora saved all of our lives, and you sacrificed part of yourself in the process. If that isn't goodness, I don't know what is," Grumpy finished, taking a long swig of beer as though to end the conversation. "Now drink your tequila."

Snow sniffed but swallowed yet another shot. "Thanks, Grumpy."

Leroy snorted. "There's no need to thank me. I'm just telling you what you're too damn noble to realize yourself."

Snow smiled a small watery smile. "You know, Leroy, I'm really glad that you tricked me into coming out tonight, even if I didn't want to be here at first."

Leroy looked at her in surprise, but Snow carried on with words increasingly slurred.

"It's nice to be out of that house. I love that baby, but sometimes his screaming is enough to drive me insane..."

Leroy decided to ignore Snow's usual habit of slipping out uncomfortable truths. "Yeah, I'm glad you came too, sister."

It was in the early hours of the morning when Snow arrived back home, humming quietly to herself as she stumbled into bed.

"What was the emergency?" Charming murmured sleepily into the pillow.

"Noooothing," Snow cooed, leaning down to give her husband a long kiss.

"Mary Margaret, how much did you drink?" Asked David, slowly waking up to a bed that smelled increasingly of alcohol.

"Enough to know that I loooove you," she said in a sing-song voice, giving her husband yet another kiss.

David smiled, wrapping his arms around his extremely inebriated wife. He figured that answers could wait until the morning, if Snow remembered any of it.

As she passed out quietly in his arms, nuzzling gently against his chest, David smiled. He was glad that she'd had a night out; it had been a long time since he'd seen her this relaxed. He'd pieced together enough of what had happened to know that two things were necessary. First of all, he needed to thank the dwarves for this one. Second of all, he was going to have to hire a babysitter and soon if he was going to stay Snow's primary drinking partner.

In the end, Snow really needed to thank her dwarves as well. Her alcohol aided slumber actually got her what she wanted: twelve blissful hours of undisturbed sleep.


	3. Chapter 3 - Belle and Killian II

"I think I have this need to be needed, you know?" Belle said, taking another shot of rum. She was surprisingly good at holding her liquor, even if it did loosen up her tongue quite a bit. "And I thought that somehow he needed me. I thought I could help him to escape his darkness."

Killian hummed in agreement, pouring more rum into Belle's glass. He himself had only had a few drinks, but Belle had made it clear quite early on that she wasn't going to hold back. While he had debated cutting her off, her alcohol tolerance and the fact that it seemed to help her talk out her emotional struggles convinced him not to. At any rate, he reasoned, if she did end up completely drunk, at least it would let her forget a few hours of her misery.

"I've always had this dream of being a hero, and I think that maybe he was my way of becoming one," Belle continued, looking slightly ashamed at the realization. "If I could bring out the goodness in him, I would make my mark on the world and change it for the better. Maybe _I_ was the one who used _him_," she added, tears filling her eyes.

"It sounds to me like you had admirable intentions, lass, and that's nothing to be ashamed of. Besides, everyone could see that your feelings for him were real. If your motive was love, for both him and others, that hardly makes you manipulative," Killian reasoned earnestly, leaning back against the wall. It was clear that this was the beginning of a long conversation. "In fact, I daresay it sounds very heroic."

"I did love him - I do," agreed Belle with a loud sniff, sipping at her rum. "But I just feel like I must have done something wrong for him to lie to me. I failed, whatever my intentions were." Her voice broke at the end of the sentence, and she wiped at her eyes angrily.

With a sigh, Killian reached into his new jacket's pocket for his handkerchief and offered it to Belle. She had run out of kleenex several minutes ago, after their first hour of drinking. Belle took it gratefully, dabbing at her swollen eyes with some embarrassment.

"You did nothing wrong, love. I confess that I speak with an obvious bias, but I believe that manipulation is Rumplestiltskin's primary talent. He uses it liberally on everyone, regardless of character," his jaw clenched in anger at the thought. The memory of Rumplestiltskin's manipulation of Emma still felt painfully fresh.

He forced himself to return his thoughts to Belle. Finding the right words to convince her that an abusive relationship was not her fault was surprisingly difficult. Killian was beginning to despair of ever stopping her flood of tears.

"I'm sorry, I know I sound ridiculous right now-" Belle began with a small, watery laugh.

"Not at all. Tears are natural after loss. You needn't be ashamed to cry in front of me. It can be our secret," replied Killian with a sad smile and distant eyes.

His expression did not go unnoticed by his companion. "Did you c-cry?" Belle asked, looking up at him with glistening eyes.

Killian looked down, fiddling with his hook once again. "Oh, yes. I've mourned all of my loved ones who passed."

Belle glanced at him curiously. "All?"

The pirate winced. This conversation was heading dangerously towards personal territory, which he tried to avoid as a general rule. His past was a painful topic even now, and he'd always viewed revealing personal information as an invitation for enemies to exploit weakness. Nevertheless, he felt like he owed this kind woman honesty, if only because it might bring her some comfort. "Yes, of course. My family, many friends, Milah... I cried for each and every one of them. Always in privacy, of course, once I reached an age where I could control such things."

"You were ashamed?" His companion stated more than asked.

Swallowing heavily, Killian nodded. "Aye. But it's more than that, I think. Crying is a sort of final salute when you lose someone. It's recognition of their value and the impact they had on your life. In a way, it's very intimate. The tears were for them, and only them; thus, solitude was better. But, the way I see it - stop me if this is overstepping - Rumplestiltskin isn't worthy of a private salute from you, love. These tears shouldn't be for him. Think of them as being for you, so that you can feel better again. Letting someone share that burden may help you heal sooner."

Belle leaned against the pirate's shoulder. "Thank you," she whispered, letting her tears fall more freely. "Have you ever considered being a therapist?" She added as an afterthought.

Killian laughed heartily in response. "Bloody hell," he choked, wiping a tear of mirth from his own eyes.

"Is that a no?" Belle blew her nose into Killian's now very damp handkerchief. "You'd be good at it."

The pirate just raised an eyebrow in a look that clearly said that he disagreed. "More rum?" He queried, hastily changing the subject.

Belle nodded, reaching for her glass and downing the remains before holding it out for more. "You must be almost out by now."

Killian grinned mischievously. "You'd be surprised. I picked up this flask long ago, and it was the best item I ever... acquired. It's been two hundred years, and it hasn't run dry yet."

Smiling at her companion's wording, Belle downed yet another shot. "In that case..."

The pirate filled her glass once again, noting that her words were slurring to a greater and greater degree.

"You know what's funny?" Belle chuckled. "Well, funny and a bit sad. I let Rumplestiltskin use me and gave him many, many chances to prove himself again when he did bad things, but I know that if I went back in time I wouldn't change my actions. I wouldn't be able to force him away any sooner than I did, because if I didn't give him chances, I wouldn't be who I am. I've been hurt, but if I'd taken a different path, I'd still have been hurt. I would always wonder what would have happened if I'd tried a bit harder. The only difference is that I wouldn't be able to live with myself, because that wouldn't be me. I need to give people chances and believe that they can change, even if they prove me wrong. Otherwise, I'd lose myself, if that makes sense," Belle trailed off from her babbling with a questioning look at the handsome man next to her. As she waited for a response, she reached for his flask once again.

Killian frowned slightly in consideration, deep in thought. His mind was drawn back to a time when grief caused him to make far different choices than were perhaps in his true nature. In particular, he thought of a time when he had shot the woman next to him. Looking back to that time, he hardly recognized himself.

"No, you wouldn't want to do that," he agreed finally, quietly marveling at the quiet wisdom of the fairly drunk woman beside him. "You know yourself very well, lass, and that is an attribute that will serve you well, I believe."

Belle smiled, slightly cross-eyed now, before drinking yet another shot.

"And, love, I believe you may have achieved your purpose in life after all. You spoke of a deep-rooted desire for heroism. I believe that your heroism lies in your goodness, which you manage to maintain in spite of difficult situations life puts you in. It may be a quiet heroism, but it's heroism nonetheless." _And I admire you for it_, Killian added as a silent afterthought.

"You have that too," Belle slurred, leaning against her new pirate friend. "You're good underneath all the bad stuff."

Killian huffed out a laugh. "Should I be thanking you for that observation?"

Belle nodded, eyes starting to drift shut.

"Perhaps you ought to get some rest now, love. I'll come check on you tomorrow, though, if that's agreeable to you? And, if you remember this, drink lots of water tomorrow," Killian advised, gently helping Belle under her covers.

"Thank you," she slurred into her pillow.

Killian smiled to himself as he looked around the shop for a pitcher of water and a bucket (just in case). By the time he found them and put them by her bed, Belle was fast asleep. Satisfaction rooted itself in Killian's chest when he observed that her face was arranged in a small smile. Mission accomplished.

He turned off the light and turned to leave, but paused in the doorway to look back at the sleeping woman.

"Thank _you_," he said quietly to her peaceful form.

Then, with a smile of his own, he left the shop.

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><p>Thanks for reading! I think I'll upload one final chapter (hopefully before this week is out) of a pair who, in my opinion, would be the ultimate drinking buddies.<p> 


	4. Chapter 4 - Killian and Emma

Last one! Thanks to everyone who followed, favourited, and reviewed. It really means a lot!

This one is Captain Swan centric, so if you don't like them together, you may not enjoy this. In my head, they're the best drinking buddies; I was really excited to write this!

**I'm also going to rate this one as "T" just for a couple of references that may be not as appropriate for younger audiences. However, it's only a couple of hints and a few kisses... nothing explicit or smutty. :)**

Lastly, I forgot to do this for my last chapters so I'll just say this here: I don't own these characters. I'm just playing!

Thanks again for reading!

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><p>As the stars danced in the sky above him on his walk back to Granny's, Killian Jones was in very good spirits. Against all odds, he was alive. Alive enough to smell the salt on the air from the ocean, a smell that always lifted his spirits with the promise of adventure. Alive enough to be able to appreciate little things, like natural starlight mingling with the strange captured starlight - called "streetlamps"? - on the street. Best of all, he could feel his heart beating steadily within his chest, although he could swear that it skipped a beat whenever he thought of Emma. The best part of being alive was definitely the promise of being able to spend another day with Emma.<p>

It was while he paused to admire the night sky that the woman in question emerged from Granny's, her blonde hair sparkling like gold even in the dim lamplight.

"You look happy," observed Emma, moving towards him with her hands stuffed casually in her pockets.

"That's because I am," Killian replied honestly, almost surprised by his own admission. "How did you fare with Regina?"

Emma shrugged. "She still seems pretty miserable, but at least now she's a little bit tipsy as well as miserable. Henry went home with her, so at least she won't be alone."

"Aye, and your boy can work wonders when it comes to Regina," Killian agreed, smiling affectionately at the thought of Emma's son.

"Where have you been? I didn't expect to see you out here," Emma said, looking at him quizzically. Killian took a moment to daydream that Emma had been in Granny's looking for him, but brushed away the thought afterwards. Regina and Henry either hadn't left yet, or they'd left out the back door. Still, the chance to see her was enough to boost his mood even further.

"Well, I've been making a sympathy call of my own," Killian admitted, scratching behind his ear in embarrassment.

Emma's eyebrows shot up. "To?"

"Belle," Killian replied.

Emma's face flickered with a variety of emotions for a moment before she shoved them away. However, Killian knew her well enough to quickly read at least some of them: surprise, guilt, anger, and sadness. Her eyes flew to his chest, where his heart was now safely restored, then back to his face. "How was she?"

"She was understandably distressed, but some rum and company helped to at least partially remedy that. She was in reasonably good spirits before she retired for the evening."

"You mean before she passed out?" Emma read between the lines with ease, biting down on an affectionate smile.

"Naturally. Ensuring her a long rest was the least I could do," Killian replied with a wink.

Emma's smile faded and, once again, her eyes were drawn towards her pirate's chest.

Tenderly, Killian pulled Emma into an embrace, bringing her hand up to rest over his heart.

"Still there, love," he promised gently, placing a small kiss on her forehead.

Emma's eyes filled with tears as her jaw clenched. "I should have realized. I knew something was wrong, but I didn't know what it was. I didn't even try to find out today after you grabbed my arm. You were trying in every possible way to tell me, and I missed it. You would have died if Belle hadn't-"

"But she did, love," Killian reminded her softly. "There's no use in blaming yourself for this. There was no way that you could have known what the crocodile was up to. He fooled everyone. The fault lies with me, if it lies with anyone. I let it happen in the first place. Fortunately, because of Belle, there's no need to dwell on such thoughts."

"That's the point, though! It shouldn't have been Belle who saved you. I failed, and I'm so sorry." A tear slipped down Emma's cheek, and she wiped it away angrily.

Killian gently lifted her chin to look into her eyes. "Being the saviour doesn't mean that the safety of everyone lies on your shoulders alone, Emma," he told her earnestly. "Requiring assistance isn't something to be ashamed of. You can't always have the pleasure of saving my sorry life, Emma, and I believe we both know that you've done that already in more ways than one. Really, it was someone else's turn."

In spite of herself, Emma smiled, before leaning in for a soft, caressing kiss. Both Emma and Killian felt the reassuring thundering of his heart in response.

When Emma finally pulled away, it was with a glimmer of mischief in her eyes.

"You know, I'm surprised that you aren't wasted right now after drinking with Belle. From what I remember, you're a little bit of a light-weight," Emma teased.

Killian's eyes narrowed in confusion, and Emma saw the exact moment that comprehension dawned.

"From what I recall, it was hardly a fair contest, was it? I believe you poured out your beverages instead of consuming them, did you not? Bad form, Swan," he chided teasingly.

"You must have been plastered to not notice that," Emma cut in.

In a moment, Killian's eyebrow quirked upwards and a positively sinful grin crept onto his face. "Perhaps this calls for a rematch."

He wasn't really expecting her to say yes, unless she'd already had much more alcohol with Regina than he'd imagined. Therefore, her response caught him completely by surprise.

"You're on," she challenged, looking equally as confident as Killian felt.

Killian looked so taken aback that Emma couldn't hold back a laugh. "What? Scared of losing?" She taunted.

"No, merely surprised that the fair Emma Swan would lack the sense to surrender now," Killian recovered quickly, eyes sparkling with laughter.

Emma's own eyes narrowed. "You are so going down."

She half-dragged the smirking pirate captain to The Rabbit Hole, where they found a small table in the corner and ordered a large supply of shots.

"Bottoms up," Killian said. "May the best man - or lady, as it may be - win."

The competition continued uninterrupted for some time, until the last person either expected to see in the Rabbit Hole sauntered over.

"Emma! My baby! I loooove you," an intoxicated Snow cooed.

Emma looked at her mother, mortified, while Killian looked impressed.

"Hey, sister," Grumpy said to Emma... grumpily. "Come on, Snow, we've got to get you home."

"Oh! Are you on a date? Are you going to kiss? You two are soooo beautiful together! Oooh, you would have beautiful children," Snow sang as Grumpy half-pulled her to the door.

"I'd wager that means I have your mother's approval," Killian chuckled while Emma groaned in mortification.

"Do you think I'm too young to be a grandmother?" Snow slurred to Grumpy as the door slammed shut behind them.

"That's going to be you in about a half hour, I'd wager," Killian commented.

"Shut up and drink your shots," Emma ordered, pushing away her embarrassment in face of the competition. She would really have to get the story as to why on earth her mother was in a bar getting drunk tonight, but that could wait for later.

Soon enough, Killian could see that Emma was clearly close to Belle levels of intoxication. He himself was feeling affected, but it was clear who was going to win this competition (though he doubted Emma would remember his victory).

"Should we stop now, love?" He asked in concern as she rested her head heavily on her hand before almost falling off of her chair.

"Stop? You 'fraid, sailor?" Emma slurred.

"That's captain to you, love," Killian corrected, eyeing her in concern.

"'nother," Emma ordered, eyes half-closed.

With a sigh, Killian picked up another shot. Emma did the same, but spilled about half in the process. It was then that Killian had a brilliant plan.

They drank their shots, and as soon as they were done, Killian groaned and lay his head on the table.

"Y'win, love. I concede," he copied Emma's slurred speech with ease.

He would never have tried such a trick on Emma while she was sober. He knew for a fact that imagining she would ever fall for it was an insult to her intelligence. It almost seemed risky while she was drunk, but he was becoming very concerned about her now. With guilt, he wondered if it was really fair to have a drinking competition with anyone considering how used to alcohol his body must be; after all, he'd had over two hundred years to work on his alcohol tolerance.

"Boom! Tol' you," she slurred triumphantly, starting to fall off of her chair again.

Killian quickly dropped all pretense of drunkenness to dart to her side and catch her before she fell on the floor.

"Come on, love, let's get you home," he murmured, supporting her weight against his own. He quickly dropped money on the table to pay for the drinks before leading his stumbling Swan to the door.

Once outside, Emma giggled - something so rare that Killian was certain he could count the number of times he'd heard it on one hand - and threw her arms around him.

"Your eyes are sooo blue," she laughed.

"Um... aye. Come on, Swan," he replied, fighting back a smile.

She leaned forward and kissed him messily, although he would be lying if he said he didn't enjoy the spontaneity of the gesture. Kissing Emma Swan in any state was wonderful...

Killian broke away from the kiss fairly quickly, though. Emma really did need to get home, even if her pout over the kiss ending made him want to dive back in.

The walk back was quite difficult because getting Emma to walk in a straight line was impossible, and Killian was more than a little bit drunk himself. Emma hummed somewhat tunelessly to herself after that as Killian supported her on the walk back to the Charming home. Killian didn't recognize the tune, but he soon started humming along with songs that his mother used to sing around the house. It had been a long time since he'd thought of those.

"I love your voice," Emma slurred. "It's like dark choc'late."

Chuckling, Killian shook his head. Drunk Emma's looser tongue was rather endearing. Everything about her was, though, now that he thought about it.

"I love your voice as well, sweetheart," he replied, guiding her to her front door and extracting the keys from her jacket pocket. It took him a moment to find the lock in the dark, and that moment was all it took for Emma to start kissing him again.

"Swan!" Killian whispered sharply. It wasn't that he wasn't enjoying kissing her. However, considering that the were both drunk, he didn't want kissing to lead to something they might regret while sober. He was a gentleman, after all.

"I looove you," she murmured against his neck.

Killian froze to stare at her in the dim light, feeling truly overwhelmed and frankly undeserving of her sentiments.

"I doubt that you'll remember this, love, but there is no one in this world that I love more than you," he told her softly.

He felt rather than saw her smile against his cheek as he guided her into her bedroom.

"Killian? Stay?" She slurred softly.

"Apologies, love, but not tonight," he replied with a chuckle.

He pulled off her shoes carefully before laying her in her bed and pulling the blankets gently around her. Finally, he brushed his lips against her forehead and left.

Perhaps it was the drinks or the starry night or the euphoria of being alive, but Killian hummed all of the way back to Granny's. It had been a great evening, and he hoped to repeat at least some of it in the future. He hoped that Belle would feel better soon, of course, and no longer require a drinking buddy, but he felt secure in the promise of a potential friendship. He had learned that Emma could hold a lot of alcohol, which impressed him, even if he didn't want that part of the evening to be a regular thing. No, the next time he went drinking with Emma, he hoped to keep the drinking somewhat minimal, so that when he told her he loved her, she would remember it.

Oddly enough, though, he wouldn't mind her triumphing over her drinking 'victory'. In fact, he was rather looking forward to how happy it would make her to have won. It was well worth a bit of teasing.

In addition, he had learned a wonderful thing this evening; there was no one that he would rather drink with than Emma Swan.


End file.
